World Wetlands Day – 2 February 2022
As the UK’s largest wetlands charity, we celebrate wetlands 365 days a year.
As the UK’s largest wetlands charity, we celebrate wetlands 365 days a year. But on 2nd February every year, the world comes together to raise awareness for wetlands and why we should protect them.
World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year by the Ramsar Convention to raise awareness of these vulnerable yet crucial habitats. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed on 2nd February 1971, in Ramsar Iran, to provide an international framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
In 2021, the United Nations designated World Wetlands Day an official day, a sign that the world is beginning to recognise their intrinsic value to wildlife, people and the planet. Wetlands are the most biodiverse habitats on Earth and also provide many other benefits such as carbon storage and flood protection.
In 2022 the overall theme for World Wetlands Day is #actforwetlands.
What are WWT doing?
#Showusyourwetlands
Wetlands come in all shapes and sizes, from understated saltmarshes to sparkling lagoons and tumbling freshwater streams. This year as we counted down to World Wetlands Day we asked the public to #showusyourwetlands to share their love and help us raise the profile of the many varieties of wetlands across the world.
Today, on World Wetlands Day, we are showcasing some of the best contributions to #showusyourwetlands. This is to highlight the diversity of wetlands and the love there is out there for these threatened super-habitats. We are also explaining how people can help protect the wetlands they care about by signing up to our Wetlands Can campaign calling for the creation and restoration of 100,000 hectares of healthy wetlands in the UK.
All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Wetlands
As well as raising awareness of wetlands amongst the public, we are also holding the second meeting of our APPG for Wetlands this World Wetlands Day, to make the case for wetlands amongst politicians. This gathering of around 20 parliamentarians (MPs and peers) will focus on the role of wetlands in reducing flood risk. Read more about the APPG.
With wetlands increasingly being recognised as playing a vital role in helping to combat some of today’s most pressing issues such as the climate, nature and wellbeing crises there has never been a more important World Wetland Day than 2 February 2022. We all need to #actforwetlands so the world wakes up to their enormous value, stops their rapid decline and starts creating more.
